Comic: "The Lords Of Misrule"
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Written by: Dan Abnett, John Tomlinson, Steve White
Artist: Peter Snejbjerg

Reviewer: The Leader
Posted: 9/23/2010

Plot: A London help-line operator named Jack Goodfellow tries to unravel the mystery surrounding the deaths of several of his friends, only to discover that there's an ancient race of monsters involved. High jinks ensue.

Review: Well, this didn't exactly turn out the way I thought it would. Going into it, I had the idea that The Lords of Misrule would be a straight and narrow horror comic. I was expecting spine tingling tales of ghosts, monsters, and various dead children; and I was half right. I just wasn't expecting the Lovecraftian beasts of pre-history and the whole "No, I am your father" bit, not to spoil any of the story for you or nothin'.

Starting out with some bloody deaths caused by an unseen beast before descending into unlikely coincidences and disappearances, Lords of Misrule tugs on the heartstrings of anyone who enjoys tales of cover-ups and conspiracies, going as far as to include excerpts from a fictional magazine very similar to the Weekly World News though less outlandish. Similar to the Tales of the Black Freighter comic from Watchmen, the Eldritch Express shows what affect the main storyline has on the outside world, or at least among the poorly educated and oft mislead proletariat who cling to every bit of propaganda that the new world order churns out in order to maintain their weak grip on their perceived reality. Fluoride kills more people every year than bears do, but I digress.

Alas and alack, senseless death and unexplained creatures don't go unexplained for long and it turns out that everything is connected, but if I told you how it would ruin the story for you. The characters are likable enough, though the main protagonist's older brother, Vince, steals the spotlight with his premonitory stories of horror. Plus he shot his own mother when he was seven and frequently makes a popping noise with his finger and mouth. Really, if you read the Lords of Misrule you should read just for Vince. He really is adorable. He's so needy, I just want to wrap him up in a blanket and take him home. In fact the emotional high point of this comic series is when he finally gets out of the asylum. So overjoyed was I at his good fortune that I let out a hearty hurrah and popped my mouth in celebration.

The art is black and white but there are several panels that are absolutely breathtaking include a two page spread. It would make some totally tubular cover art for an album for a band with a name like The Black Scab, Werewolf Unicycle, or The Tambourine Twins of Death Heart. So fucking metal.

But yeah, this is a pretty cool comic. It has giant piggies.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)